EDITORIAL - True colors

And you thought his role was confined to calling a recess and announcing the Senate impeachment court’s daily adjournment. Nearly three decades ago, Francisco Tatad went on national television to announce that Ferdinand Marcos had placed the entire country under martial law. That heralded the start of 14 years of national plunder, human rights abuses and summary executions of those who dared oppose the Marcos regime.

The other night Tatad, who has reinvented himself as a senator, led the charge to suppress vital evidence in President Estrada’s impeachment trial. Instead of letting Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. rule on whether a second sealed envelope should be opened, Tatad moved that the matter be put to a vote by the senators. Apparently expecting Davide to allow the opening of the envelope, as the Chief Justice had done in the case of the first envelope last month, Tatad refused to withdraw his motion. Immediately seconded by Senator-Judge Juan Ponce Enrile, Tatad’s motion passed, and the evidence was killed by a margin of one vote.

When the votes were known, it was clear to many people that putting their faith in the impeachment process had been an exercise in futility. All the senators known to be allies of the President voted as expected – including those who had made a show of taking a leave from the administration coalition at the start of the trial. Many believed that the 11-10 vote against the prosecution would be the same vote if ever the Senate hands down its verdict on the President.

The administration can’t blame the people for what happened next. Aquilino Pimentel quit as Senate president, saying he could no longer lead a "damaged" institution. The prosecution team followed yesterday morning. Immediately after the voting, thousands started gathering at the EDSA Shrine, honking car horns and switching on hazard lights in protest. The crowds were still there until last night, reviving their calls for the President’s resignation. The peso and stock market fell as soon as trading opened, with brokers walking out of the trading floor. It was the biggest single-day loss for the market since the Asian crisis, and a historic low for the peso, which slumped to 55.75 to the dollar before settling at 54.62.

The contents of the sealed second envelope started circulating yesterday, anyway. But the damage has been done, and it’s unlikely to be undone: public trust in the impeachment process has vanished. In showing their true colors, the President’s allies in the Senate betrayed the farce or moro-moro that the impeachment trial has been all along.